Remember, everybody: if you see a link saying "additional details and a picture", it's another slashvertisement by Roland Piquepaille linking to his blog.
There are tools to filter out his shameless plugs.
Interesting... More than I expected to be avaliable...
This is not surprising. In the first one, you used a (perhaps common) alternate spelling of Tiananmen. In the latter case, you used the more common one.
While Google image searches from China for "Tiananmen Square" would not yield photos of the event that makes the Square notable outside of China, such photos do show up when the Square's name is misspelled. Or at least, such was the case when someone mentioned it on slashdot a few months back.
Remember when lasers were new (well, I don't, but I've seen the old magazines)?
Science magazines were all saying "lasers have so many uses and are going to be in every part of our life."
I think that to a degree, these people were right. There are plenty of informational uses (optical media), medical uses (laser eye surgery), among others.
But the reality is that day-to-day life hasn't changed, and we don't wake up and use our laser-spoon to eat our laser-ceral in the morning. Look at the average family, and sure they're different from a similar family of 50 years ago, but most of the noticeable differences are social/behavioural, even if those behaviours are based around new technology.
The future is much more boring than what looks good on the cover of Science/Tech magazines. The city of 50 years from now isn't going to be mostly buildings built 50 years from now; most of the city will look 50-80% the same.
But I like both sides of a story. I just wish they would give both sides all the time, like when a grown man molest a child, why don't we ever hear from other child molestors on why the man was right.
I'm not refuting you, since I'm not qualified to. But it absolutely bakes my noodle that planetary features would always occur at 19.5 degrees south lattitude. What forces could possibly be happening to make planets all end up with significant features at the same point?
First, he said 19.5 degrees north or south.
Second, 19.5 degrees is not a point, it's a line/locus. He's not saying that Slartybartfarst always signs on the same point on the canvas.
Third, I find your "I can't think of an explanation for these facts, therefore we would do best to ignore them" argument to be scientifically insulting. PP mentioned a geometric phenomenon that is potentially significant (astronomy is closely tied with geometry).
When you say "I'm not refuting you, but..." you reall mean to say "this is fud, but..."
A better refutation would have been to ask the following questions:
- Is this just a selective set of planetary features? (I doubt it, since these are the most prominent ones on various planets, earth excluded)
- Has our observation of planets been selective to this latitude? (We've known about Jupiter's spot for a long time, and we've scoured Mars, and we know lots about Earth)
- Are the facts presented by the parent--namely, are these features at the latitudes specified--true? (I'm too lazy to check)
Pay attention to what has been said, then ask questions, then look for the answers. How well you have done that determines whether the tingling in your head feels like pain, or like knowledge.
Putting up wind turbines in everyone's backyard is silly, because not everyone's backyard gets enough wind, and the overhead to generate power for only one house is stupid.
What you need is a large windmill, but to date few have let wind companies put one up on their property. By being part of the cooperative, those whose land the wind generator is on, and those whose backyards it is in, get a say in the operation, and successful deployment is far more likely.
A friend of mine was sick of not getting any information on the Diebold voting machines used in our municipal elections, despite many freedom of information requests. So he's running as a candidate to make it (and other democratic imperatives) an election issue.
So is this going to be a Graceland type of deal? How soon can we make pilgrimages
No, it'll like going to the original Cheers restaurant: It looks nothing like the TV show, nobody knows your name, and has been remodeled many times since it first inspired what makes it famous.
Graceland was where Elvis moved after he became rich and famous. This garage is where Serge and Brin were before.
The "let's do something symbolic so we don't have to think about it anymore" is best exemplified in the Asylum Street Spankers' schtick on those stupid "support our troops" car magnets, which neither pro-war nor anti-war people find particularly useful.
(I'm trying not to flamebait here...if you want to discuss the ribbons, use the comment section of the youtube link...)
I made the same argument on my blog sometime back about those ubiquitous and jingoistic, yet vacuous, rubber wristbands.
Before 'they' figure out that it was a transmission, before they've decoded it correctly (do you think they use PAL or NTSC? Decisions!) and can begin to interpret it (who says they have eyes or ears?), manage to figure out what we are and what we're actually saying, and managed to construct a reply in a format that we're likely to be able to decode, you're probably looking at quite a few years.
Yeah, and they'd also have to make sure that nobody uses the tape to record the latest episode of "Survivor".
As a person who prefers his Gmail account over his Yahoo-html account, I hope that Yahoo gets better, because Google's Gmail developers seem to be getting complacent.
With most Google projects, they have a "send us your comments/suggestions" link on the page for a couple of months, then it disappears. Although Gmail is still in beta, the only additions they've added lately are a couple of languages and some disgusting Web 2.0 bells and whistles.
They do one good idea partway (albeit maybe 75-80%), then get all caught up in the next project. I really wish they'd improve the core functionality of Gmail.
Slashdot Mirror
Remember, everybody: if you see a link saying "additional details and a picture", it's another slashvertisement by Roland Piquepaille linking to his blog.
There are tools to filter out his shameless plugs.
- RG>
Psst: the military is paid for by taxes.
Just thought you'd like to know that.
- RG>
This is not surprising. In the first one, you used a (perhaps common) alternate spelling of Tiananmen. In the latter case, you used the more common one.
While Google image searches from China for "Tiananmen Square" would not yield photos of the event that makes the Square notable outside of China, such photos do show up when the Square's name is misspelled. Or at least, such was the case when someone mentioned it on slashdot a few months back.
- RG>
Remember when lasers were new (well, I don't, but I've seen the old magazines)?
Science magazines were all saying "lasers have so many uses and are going to be in every part of our life."
I think that to a degree, these people were right. There are plenty of informational uses (optical media), medical uses (laser eye surgery), among others.
But the reality is that day-to-day life hasn't changed, and we don't wake up and use our laser-spoon to eat our laser-ceral in the morning. Look at the average family, and sure they're different from a similar family of 50 years ago, but most of the noticeable differences are social/behavioural, even if those behaviours are based around new technology.
The future is much more boring than what looks good on the cover of Science/Tech magazines. The city of 50 years from now isn't going to be mostly buildings built 50 years from now; most of the city will look 50-80% the same.
- RG
Yet another example of how university prepares you for the workforce: learn to keep an eye open for the boss.
- RG>
On the contrary. Maritimers know their stuff about birds; it's the urban population that makes these things up.
- RG>
This looks very similar to "if you don't do it voluntarily, we'll force you".
- RG>
I agree. The VC should go toward buying out all these implementations and leaving only one option to dominate the market.
[/sarcastic?]
- RG>
What are you talking about?
They do this all the time.
- RG>
It looks like that's been covered...
- RG>
Actually, there are such a thing as violin-quartet music boxes. Very rare (antique), but purely mechanical.
Sorry for no reference; I saw it on tv once.
- RG>
Dude, real geeks bite the heads off chickens
- RG>
First, he said 19.5 degrees north or south.
Second, 19.5 degrees is not a point, it's a line/locus. He's not saying that Slartybartfarst always signs on the same point on the canvas.
Third, I find your "I can't think of an explanation for these facts, therefore we would do best to ignore them" argument to be scientifically insulting. PP mentioned a geometric phenomenon that is potentially significant (astronomy is closely tied with geometry).
When you say "I'm not refuting you, but..." you reall mean to say "this is fud, but..."
A better refutation would have been to ask the following questions:
- Is this just a selective set of planetary features? (I doubt it, since these are the most prominent ones on various planets, earth excluded)
- Has our observation of planets been selective to this latitude? (We've known about Jupiter's spot for a long time, and we've scoured Mars, and we know lots about Earth)
- Are the facts presented by the parent--namely, are these features at the latitudes specified--true? (I'm too lazy to check)
Pay attention to what has been said, then ask questions, then look for the answers. How well you have done that determines whether the tingling in your head feels like pain, or like knowledge.
- RG>
Obviously, this is highly subsidized. Thus, if you were to happen to start a power co-op to build a large wind turbine in rural Ottawa, the 11-cent-per-kilowatt-hour you receive from the Ontario government would make it worth it.
Putting up wind turbines in everyone's backyard is silly, because not everyone's backyard gets enough wind, and the overhead to generate power for only one house is stupid.
What you need is a large windmill, but to date few have let wind companies put one up on their property. By being part of the cooperative, those whose land the wind generator is on, and those whose backyards it is in, get a say in the operation, and successful deployment is far more likely.
- RG>
Yes, and then we can have an option in our user preferences to set comments marked with it as "+6". We can call it "the O'Reilly Factor".
- RG>
Meh. Just get them to think that looking for planes is somebody else's problem.
- RG>
A friend of mine was sick of not getting any information on the Diebold voting machines used in our municipal elections, despite many freedom of information requests. So he's running as a candidate to make it (and other democratic imperatives) an election issue.
We need more people willing to do that.
- RG>
No, it'll like going to the original Cheers restaurant: It looks nothing like the TV show, nobody knows your name, and has been remodeled many times since it first inspired what makes it famous.
Graceland was where Elvis moved after he became rich and famous. This garage is where Serge and Brin were before.
- RG>
Why should I believe you? Do you have a Ph.D?
- RG>
Exactly.
The "let's do something symbolic so we don't have to think about it anymore" is best exemplified in the Asylum Street Spankers' schtick on those stupid "support our troops" car magnets, which neither pro-war nor anti-war people find particularly useful.
(I'm trying not to flamebait here...if you want to discuss the ribbons, use the comment section of the youtube link...)
I made the same argument on my blog sometime back about those ubiquitous and jingoistic, yet vacuous, rubber wristbands.
- RG>
I wouldn't have guessed this from the rest of the summary. Thanks for pointing it out!
- RG>
Yeah, and they'd also have to make sure that nobody uses the tape to record the latest episode of "Survivor".
- RG>
As a person who prefers his Gmail account over his Yahoo-html account, I hope that Yahoo gets better, because Google's Gmail developers seem to be getting complacent.
With most Google projects, they have a "send us your comments/suggestions" link on the page for a couple of months, then it disappears. Although Gmail is still in beta, the only additions they've added lately are a couple of languages and some disgusting Web 2.0 bells and whistles.
They do one good idea partway (albeit maybe 75-80%), then get all caught up in the next project. I really wish they'd improve the core functionality of Gmail.
- RG>
Ah, but supply and demand are two separate variables. IE vulnerabilities are a dime a dozen, are they not?
- RG>
Hey, it worked for Iraq.
- RG>